Gift (4)
David was staying with his daughter in the VIP family room and only came into the Korean branch occasionally to handle work.
Dongho, whom I already knew, and Edward were glad to see David again, and I introduced the people around me to him one by one.
“This is Kang Seon-woo, the CEO of SW Games.”
“I heard you’re the boss’s best friend.”
“Nice to meet you.”
After the greetings were done, Seon-woo lowered his voice and said to me,
“Wow. So you’re the boss of a guy like that? Not bad.”
“See? I’m on another level, idiot.”
I couldn’t help puffing out my chest.
Next, I introduced Min Ah-reum as well.
“Hello. I’m Min Ah-reum.”
“Nice to meet you. Just as I’d heard, you have excellent fashion sense.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
Since I was at it, I called over Sung Yoon-ah too.
At the news that I was going to introduce her to David, she had rushed over to the company in one breath.
“Hello, I’m Sung Yoon-ah. I’ve really wanted to meet you at least once.”
For some reason, she looked incredibly tense. Even her voice was trembling a little.
“Nice to meet you. I’m David Lockhart.”
When he held out his hand, Sung Yoon-ah took it and said,
“It’s an honor.”
She was so excited she could hardly contain herself.
“Wow! I can’t believe I’m actually seeing David Lockhart in person. This is amazing.”
“You like him that much?”
“Of course! He’s the CEO of Continue Capital.”
Come to think of it, a famous private equity CEO was basically a star to anyone who worked in finance.
“Hey, I’m a CEO too, you know...”
At my words, Sung Yoon-ah looked a little flustered.
“W-well, you’re Han Miru first and Continue Capital’s CEO second.”
“Hmm. So my status as a former co-worker matters more?”
Sung Yoon-ah nodded hard.
“Of course.”
I met with Chairman Yoo Jae-ho separately and spoke with him for a while.
“Thank you again for what you did this time.”
He waved a hand.
“Not at all. Thanks to you, we gained quite a lot ourselves.”
Yuseong Bio’s structure was similar to a foundry.
Rather than focusing on developing new drugs, it centered on receiving contracts and manufacturing them. The surest way to win that kind of production order was to acquire or invest in the pharmaceutical company directly.
At first, we had only invested in LunaVax’s development costs, but later we poured in more money and raised our stake all the way to 51 percent.
Thanks to the success of the new drug, LunaVax’s stock was now in the middle of a full-blown rally.
And now Yuseong Bio would also handle the production, which meant we had essentially secured a two-for-one profit.
Chairman Yoo Jae-ho sipped his tea and said,
“Not long ago, I attended the inauguration.”
“Ah! I saw it on the news.”
The inauguration he was referring to was the presidential inauguration.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t been invited, so I watched the president take his oath on TV instead.
“So he really did become president. Still, the road ahead won’t be smooth. The opposition has the majority in the legislature, and even inside the ruling Woori Kookmin Party, he’s not part of the mainstream.”
Some of the reform-minded faction supported him, but the pro-Chang faction still had a tight grip on party power.
The truth was, the fact that Namgoong Seok had become president was probably a miracle nobody had expected.
History’s great current had changed because of me.
Could he really get through all the difficult obstacles that would come in Korea from here on out?
…
I didn’t know either.
His becoming president had never happened in the first run.
Well, as long as it wasn’t Im Chang-sik, I figured that was enough.
“The business world seems to be on edge after hearing that CEO Lockhart is in Korea.”
“The rumor already spread?”
“You can’t shut everyone’s mouths.”
The media Yuseong Group might be able to keep in line, but there was nothing anyone could do about what people said to one another.
“But is there really a reason to be nervous?”
Chairman Yoo said it as though it were obvious.
“Think about what Continue Capital has done in Korea so far.”
“…”
Hearing that, I could finally tell just how notorious Continue Capital had become in Korea.
After meeting Chairman Yoo, I didn’t go back to the office. Instead, I stopped by SW Games.
The employees were all hard at work in front of their computers.
The one working hardest of all was the CEO himself, Kang Seon-woo.
If we wanted to release the Fantasia Tales remake in time for the Legend Deck launch, there was no helping it.
“Oh, you’re here?”
He hadn’t shaved his beard or cut his hair, so if you looked kindly at him, he seemed like a wandering hermit, and if you looked unkindly, he looked like a homeless man.
“How’s the work going?”
“Yeah. We’re tearing it all down and rebuilding from scratch. We’re overhauling the business model, adding a cinematic trailer, and redesigning the UI and controls to fit a multi-platform release.”
“Think you can make the deadline?”
“Probably.”
In the first run, Seon-woo had been fired from the company and ended up drifting through life just like I had. But now that there was a goal right in front of him, he was throwing himself at it like a madman.
He might look like a bum, but compared to the way he had been back then, hollowed out and broken, this version of him was far better to see.
“Come out with me for a second.”
“I’m busy. Why?”
“You need some sunlight.”
“I’m getting plenty through the window.”
“Shut up and come on.”
The place I dragged Seon-woo to was a newly built villa in Cheongdam.
Traditional rich people generally preferred houses.
That was why most of the chaebols you’d recognize by name lived in houses. Chairman Yoo Jae-ho was no different.
But the nouveau riche who had been born and raised in apartments were different.
These days, ultra-luxury villas had been built along the Han River to target people who preferred the city and apartment life.
This place was no exception.
The villa had twenty floors and twenty-nine households in total.
Luxury villas were often built with thirty households or fewer. The reason was simple: once you went over thirty, the local government had to review the sale.
Under thirty households, though, you could set the price however you liked and sell it directly.
The penthouse on the top floor connected two stories together. It was a staggering 300 pyeong. Since it had only just been completed, everything was spotless.
Beyond the glass wall of the living room, the Han River and Yeongdong Bridge stretched out below us. Our current home had a river view too, but this one was on a completely different level.
In New York, there was the Hudson. In Seoul, there was the Han.
Seon-woo was openly amazed.
“Whoa! How much does a place like this even cost?”
“A little over 30 billion won, I think.”
I hadn’t checked myself, so I wasn’t really sure.
I said to Seon-woo,
“Let’s move here.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“We should live in a nice house too.”
“Our place is nice already.”
“It’s still just a rental.”
“Then what about this one? You buying it?”
“No. I’m buying it for you.”
Seon-woo froze for a moment at my words.
“Huh? Why?”
“No reason.”
“Why the hell would you buy a 30-billion-won house for no reason?”
I patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it. Just take it.”
“Uh... I feel like I’m about to die from the pressure.”
“I’m just making up for all the years I freeloaded off you.”
Seon-woo looked confused.
“How long were you even freeloading?”
He didn’t know it, but I’d freeloaded for another ten years after that.
When I thought about all the overdue rent, this much was nothing.
“Then why aren’t you buying one for yourself?”
“I am.”
I was already planning to buy my parents a house, and later on, another one to give to Sena.
“And after that, let’s buy a building or two in New York.”
“Huh? How much would that cost?”
Even major buildings in the center of Korea cost over a trillion won.
So in New York...
“Let’s see. A decent one probably runs around 5 billion dollars.”
“…”
Seon-woo seemed speechless for a moment, then asked the realistic question.
“Setting the price aside, can you even buy one just because you want to?”
“It’s not easy.”
You could only buy a major building if someone was selling.
Of course, if you offered enough above market price, they’d gladly sell, but there was no reason to go that far.
“Still, a chance will come soon.”
When that time came, I’d be able to pick one up for a bargain.
Meggie endured the grueling treatment well.
The medical staff in the VIP ward watched the child with amazement.
“She’s such a good girl. She doesn’t even cry.”
“She says she’s holding it in because she doesn’t want her father to worry, even when it hurts.”
“She’s so adorable. She really is like a little angel.”
“Even when work is hard, just seeing Meggie’s face feels like healing.”
“It’ll be sad when that day comes, but I hope she gets better quickly and goes home.”
Just as attention-grabbing as the child was her guardian.
A blond middle-aged man who looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of a men’s magazine.
The way he cared for his daughter with such complete devotion was enough to make women’s hearts flutter.
Besides, he was the CEO of a huge private equity firm called Continue Capital.
“Isn’t Mr. Lockhart unbelievably handsome?”
“Seriously. Good-looking, family-oriented, too. He’s totally my type.”
“I heard he only has a daughter and isn’t married yet...”
Before I knew it, Meggie ended up celebrating her birthday in Korea.
For Meggie’s birthday party, I met Jiyu at the hospital.
She was a top star, so naturally she was busy to the point of not having time to breathe, but thankfully she managed to adjust her schedule and make room.
“Hello, senior.”
“Hey.”
For some reason, it felt like I saw her all the time.
Unlike the last time we met, she had fully finished her idol styling today. Just changing her makeup and outfit made her image feel completely different.
I had seen her plenty on video, but seeing her in person, the aura of a true star was unmistakable.
When I kept staring at her, Jiyu asked, looking startled,
“What is it? Do I look weird?”
“N-no. Not weird at all. It suits you.”
“Hehe. That’s a relief.”
I explained Meggie to Jiyu.
“She’s David Lockhart’s daughter...”
At that, Jiyu’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Lockhart? Wait—don’t tell me he’s the CEO of Continue Capital?”
That, in turn, surprised me.
“Whoa. How did you know that?”
“He’s been in the articles a lot.”
Even so, most people didn’t even know the names of private equity firms. There was no way they’d know the name of the CEO.
Jiyu muttered in a small voice, almost to herself,
“A-and he’s the company you work for, senior.”
“Ah! Right. Continue Capital also invested in Rainbow Records, so I guess you’d been interested in it for a while.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Then let’s go in.”
David, who was acting as guardian, was already there, of course, along with Edward, senior Dongho, and the other staff. Kang Seon-woo, Min Ah-reum, and Sung Yoon-ah were there too.
Balloon letters spelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY were stuck to the wall of the hospital room, gifts sent by friends were piled up on one side, and a huge cake and a spread of food had already been prepared.
We had ordered it specially from a hotel so the hospital staff could share it too.
“Happy birthday.”
Every time someone offered their congratulations, Meggie smiled and bowed her head politely.
“Thank you.”
I said to Meggie,
“Your uncle prepared a present for you.”
“What is it?”
“Can you close your eyes for a second?”
While Meggie had her eyes shut, Jiyu walked inside.
“Open them now.”
Meggie opened her eyes, and Jiyu waved at her.
“Hi, Meggie. Do you know who your big sister is?”
Meggie’s eyes went wide in shock, and her mouth fell open.
“Jiyu unnie?”
“Yep.”
Meggie stared at Jiyu in disbelief for a second, and then she suddenly burst into tears.
Big tears spilled from her eyes, one after another.
“Waaah!”
We all panicked at the sight.
“W-why are you crying?”
“I’m just so happy.”
Jiyu comforted the crying girl and said,
“Your unnie’s going to have a concert in America later, too. I’ll send you a ticket, so once you’re all better, you have to come see it, okay?”
“Okay.”
Watching them, I came to a sudden, firm conclusion.
When I got married, I definitely had to have a daughter.
—